


Of Love and Loss

by themusingsofafangirl



Series: Protect and Serve [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Dean-Centric, Gen, M/M, Uncle Cas, Vignette, adopted Claire, dean and benny friendship, discussion of loss and grief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2016-04-23
Packaged: 2018-06-03 22:34:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6629716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themusingsofafangirl/pseuds/themusingsofafangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Benny are working the night patrol when they receive an unusual request from dispatch. Let the record show that this might be the only time that Dean does not regret being used as a taxi service.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Love and Loss

Driving through the darkened streets of Lawrence, Dean held back a yawn, cursing his partner's soft heart. Benny and Dean had been protecting and serving together in the town of Lawrence since they were fresh out of the police academy. At 27, Dean was easily one of the youngest of his cohort on the force. The day he'd turned 21, Dean had headed straight to the department to drop off his application. He had passed all the application tests and interviews with flying colors and was quickly shepherded into the academy for basic training.

It was there that he met Benny, a gruff man well established in life, with a thick southern drawl and a skill for preparing delicious cajun food. The two had become fast friends, with Benny's wife, Andrea, quickly adopting Dean as her new project. Dean could often be found unwinding after a tough shift at Benny's, beer in hand and football on the TV. 

Perhaps it was this strong friendship that made Dean mutter snide remarks about the late hour instead of leaving his partner to serve the shift with whichever rookie the station assigned. As much as his sleep was important, Dean knew that Benny had good reason to offer to take Garth's shift. Garth's wife, Bess, was quickly approaching her due date and Garth still hadn't read _What to Expect When You're Expecting_. In the interest of preventing marital wrath, Benny had offered to take the shift so Garth could treat his lady to one last baby-free night on the town (and maybe fit in some reading as well). 

This is all to say that Dean and Benny were cruising through Lawrence much later than they normally might be. Late enough, in fact, that they were currently playing a game of guessing how many kids they'd find tonight breaking curfew. 

"Come on, brotha, I doubt more than five'll be out so late on a school night." Benny offered.

"Please," Dean retorted, "I was hardly ever home by curfew. And I'm a cop kid." Dean's father had served on the force for many years until a heart attack had forced him into an early retirement ("It's the only credible alternative to desk work, Dean.")

"Yeah, but you knew where your daddy was patrolling, so it don't really count. You knew what to avoid."

"I mean, I was also a ladies' man, so I had reason to stay out."

"I doubt most of these kids are on the prowl for ladies. Maybe if her name was Mary Jane."

"Niiiiiice one, Benny." The drug-related pun merited an enthusiastic high five from Dean. "Eh, either way, I'm thinking at least ten."

"Drinks on the loser?" 

"You bet, buddy." The men high-fived once more to seal the deal and continued their rounds, keeping a close eye on any kids looking suspiciously young for the area. At 10:30, curfew hadn't kicked in yet, but it was close enough that anyone heading home would have already started that journey. 

It was as they were rounding the corner of a street on the edge of a, shall we say, less affluent area, their radio crackled to life. Their dispatcher relayed their next assignment and Benny, who was on radio as Dean was driving, offered a quick "10-4" in acknowledgment. 

"What's the story?" Dean asked once the conversation with dispatch was finished. He'd taken to tuning out the radio as Benny was much better situated to take note and interact with any incoming messages. 

"You're gonna love this one, brotha.”

“Oh?”

“Guess who’s a taxi tonight?”

“No. Nope. No way. Not gonna happen.”

“We gotta, man. Dispatch said she sounded desperate.” Benny paused, smirking. “Plus I already said that we would.”

“Fine. Fine. Whatever you say. Where’re we headed?” Dean asked with a sigh. Benny gave the response and Dean directed the car towards that address. When they rolled up to the appointed location, a girl dressed in black clothes with heavy eye makeup raced over to the car.

“You my ride home?” She asked with no preamble.

“Guess so.” Benny responded. “Hop in the back.”

She did so and was quick to complain. “Smells like hobo farts back here.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Well, this ain’t exactly a limo.”

“No shit, Sherlock.” Came the snarky reply from the back seat.

“Knock it off, kids.” The interruption came from an exasperated Benny. “Where are we taking you?”

The girl rattled off an address from memory, inspiring another eye roll from Dean when he realized that they were more than an hour from her house. As the car pulled away from the curb, she sullenly settled into the corner of the back seat. She stared out the window, watching Lawrence race by.

Benny, ever the mediator, decided it was his place to interrupt the tense silence filling the car. “You got a name?”

“Yup.” Was the terse reply.

“You gonna tell me what it is?”

“I guess.”

“What’s your name then?”

“Claire.”

“And I don’t suppose you have a last name too?”

“Novak.”

“Claire Novak? Got it.” Benny made note so that when the chief asked what they’d spent their night doing, he’d have a name to blame. “And we’re taking you home?”

“I guess.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well…” It was at this point that Claire launched into a rather detailed retelling of the most recent events in her life’s history. She recounted her parents’ messy separation and divorce and her mother’s eventual desertion. She talked about how her father had raised her solo until a fatal car accident. And then she told the pair of cops about her uncle. How he’d taken her in. How he was more than slightly socially awkward. How he didn’t really understand teenage girls. And how, at the end of the day, he was trying and she couldn’t fault him for that. 

A few more probing questions from the pair up front lead to the big reveal that her uncle and father were identical twins. That she found seeing her father’s face on a different man disconcerting every time her uncle showed a modicum of paternal instinct. Soon, Dean started chiming in, explaining how he had dealt with the loss of his mother. How it was okay that Claire would visit the graveyard that housed her father’s body. How pain was a part of the process and it was understandable that her emotions regarding her uncle were confusing. How it was justified for her to feel conflicted about her mother. How he still felt anger on occasion towards his father for putting his needs before Dean and his brother’s. How he resented his father for letting hate fill his body when his wife died. How he still hurt when he remembered the muttered slurs from his father at the discovery of his first boyfriend.

Benny began to open up about the pain of the miscarriages his wife was experiencing. How each time the test came back negative was another blow to the couple who had been trying for years. How he worried that there was something wrong with him. How he felt that time was running out and that he was letting Andrea down. Dean reached out to his friend, this being the first time he’d heard that the couple was trying for a baby. He told Benny how he knew that no matter what it would work out. How he was positive that Benny would make a fantastic father. How he would hope every day that the test would come back positive. 

It was at this point in the highly emotional conversation that Dean somewhat came to his senses. “Okay team,” he rolled his shoulders back and squirmed in his seat. “This is about as much chick flick as I can handle in any 24 hour period, so we’re gonna have to wind it down.” 

Benny checked a street name as they passed through an intersection. “Not to mention, we’re pretty close to home, Claire. You ready to face the music?” He turned to smile warmly at the passenger in the back.

“Not like I’ve got any choice. You guys will back me up, right?” 

“Of course, kiddo,” Benny answered wholeheartedly.

Dean deftly maneuvered the patrol car down quiet suburban streets. Claire gave concise turn-by-turn directions from the back until the pulled up to a quaint, two story family home. 

“This is it.” She announced with only a slight tremble in her voice. The trio piled out of the car and trooped up to the front door. Claire started to dig through one of the potted plants on the porch to locate the spare key when the front door swung open.

Standing there, as wrathful as an avenger angel, was someone who could be none other than Claire’s uncle. His dark hair was wild, clearly mussed by hands running through it in a worried fashion. His blue eyes were dim and shadows hung around him. Claire’s tardiness had certainly compounded the effect of his brother’s recent death. 

And to Dean? He was the most beautiful man he’d ever laid eyes on. To Dean, his eyes glimmered and his hair was wrecked from sex. The body that might have seemed lean to anyone else took on an air of lithe grace. Benny took one quick look at his awestruck partner and gave him a sharp jab to the ribs. Before the man could even utter a “What the hell is going on,” Benny chose to intervene. 

“Mr. Novak? I’m Officer Lafitte, and this is my partner, Officer Winchester. We’re here with Claire who called us in order to ensure that she make it home safely tonight.” Benny stated with assumed authority. As he spoke, the man visibly calmed, learning the explanation to the late return home. “She was concerned that given the late hour, she might not be able to get back expediently and so she rang dispatch and we offered a ride. We want you to know that we commend her out of the box thinking and concern for her own safety.”

“Yes, thank you. Your help in keeping Claire safe is greatly appreciated.” Dean almost melted when the man opened his mouth. The low growl of his voice seemed to resonate deep in Dean’s bones.

“We’ve discussed how to avoid this sort of situation in the future,” Benny explained, though they had done no such thing, “and my partner and myself will both be providing you and Miss Novak with our phone numbers in case something similar happens again. That way you won’t have to take up space on the emergency line, right Claire?”

Claire nodded as Dean slowly processed that Benny was giving him a way to slip Novak his number. Pulling a page from his notebook, Dean scrawled his name and number on the paper twice before tearing it in half and giving each Novak a copy. Benny did the same and the two bid the Novak’s goodnight. 

~*~

Three weeks later, Dean received a call from an unknown number. “Winchester.” He answers as he gets out of his beloved Impala, post shift.

“Officer Winchester? It’s Castiel Novak. We met a few weeks ago when you picked up my niece and brought her home.” The low rumble betrayed the speaker’s identity before he could even introduce himself.

“Mr. Novak! How are you doing? How’s Claire?”

“Please, Castiel is fine. Formalities have never been my thing. Claire is wonderful and has been staying home more often as late. What ever you said to her seems to have certainly had an effect. In fact, that’s what I wanted to talk about.”

“Oh?” Dean queried, wondering how much of their conversation Claire had relayed.

“I wanted to thank you for your honest discussion with her about loss. I haven’t been able to have that conversation with her yet since I myself and still mourning. Perhaps it was my mistake to assume that as a 16 year old, she would be emotionally mature enough to process the loss somewhat on her own in the beginning.” He sighed. “I know that Jimmy, my brother, would have never had made that choice. But I haven’t had the practice that he’s had.”

“It’s okay, Cas. You’ve lost your brother and it’s hard to process other’s pain when you’re still working on your’s.” All of a sudden, Dean found himself acting as therapist to this Novak instead. 

“Thank you.”

“Your pain is valid, Cas. It’s okay to hurt.”

There was a catch in Castiel’s breath as he whispered an additional thank you. 

“How ‘bout this, man. You clearly need time to process. Let’s grab a cup of coffee or tea or whatever and you can talk about it. Maybe when you’re a bit more settled, reaching out to Claire won’t seem so hard.”

Castiel quickly agreed and they set a place and a time to meet. One meeting turned into two, which turned into weekly coffee, which turned into drinks that one time, which turned into dinner out, which turned into regular dinner with the Novak’s, which turned into Dean parking himself on their couch for football, which turned into Claire getting a little bit fed up with the whole situation.

“Okay guys.” She said, pausing the movie that the three were watching. “You’re clearly dating, so can you just go ahead and make it official?” 

The two men looked at her and then each other, bewildered. Slowly, it dawned on them that they had indeed been dating for months. Claire insisted on a relabelling of the relationship and the two quickly complied. Random nights of dinner and movies became dates and trips to the zoo with Claire became family bonding. Slowly but surely, Dean became even more of a staple in the Novak family.

And the rest? Well, the rest is history. 

**Author's Note:**

> So this may be my first fic in a while... Sorry. 
> 
> This was prompted by a post on facebook which in turn referenced a post on tumblr. Though originally Dean was going to pick up Cas, I wasn't really feeling the whole underage vibe when a cop was involved. Here, then, is my reinterpretation of the original prompt.


End file.
